Man's Best Friend
by HeartlandSeeker
Summary: A shot at how Sgt. Talbert wound up getting his pet dog, Trigger.


Man's Best Friend

A dribble on how Sgt. Talbert came to find Trigger the dog

Coming to Holland had been a big mistake. There was no question about it, and if you had asked Talbert, he would have told you what for. Miller and Van Klinken had died, Bull had gone missing, Lt. Brewer was wounded, and Lt. Peacock had decided to play chicken and not move out. And to top it all off, Chuck was in the hospital. The idiot had jumped around the corner of the building to blow a hole in a house to get rid of a German mg. What he hadn't seen was the wounded German who was still able to pull a pin and throw a grenade.

Tab had begged for three days before he could get Lt. Winters to give him a twenty-four hour pass back to the hospital. Tab walked through the doorway and looked around. He found Chuck laying in a bed about halfway down the room, laughing at a joke one of his neighbors had just told him. Tab walked down the aisle towards him.

"Tab! You've just gotta hear this. Jimmy was tellin' me about his platoon sergeant back when they were stationed in France and the night he went to this bar..."

Tab hurriedly cut him off. "Would you slow down? I've been here three seconds and you're already talkin' my ear off. I aughta just go back now. It's been nice since you left."

"That's not nice."

"I didn't come to be nice. I came to put you in traction for a few months."

"What in the hell did I ever do to you?! Wait, this isn't about the time I put pudding in your helmet is it?" Chuck cried.

"No. This is about you standing there lookin' at that damn house and not moving back behind the wall. That was just stupid ya know."

"I didn't know the guy was still alive. And how the hell was I supposed to know he had a grenade on him?"

Tab just rolled his eyes and pulled up a chair from the end of the bed. "You don't always know everything. That's why you don't stand in the open and you pay attention to everything. Unless Doc or Spina comes around and tells you that they're dead, you assume they're alive."

Chuck just grinned at him sitting up a little farther in the bed. He winced slightly and put a hand to his shoulder. Tab looked at him, face filled with concern. "You ok?"

"Yeah. Just a little sore. You know what Colonel Sink says about assuming right? All it does is..."

"Make an ass outta you and me." Tab finished with him. "Now I'll hear that story."

Tab sat there for two hours as Chuck recounted every detail of his hospital stay. It amazed Tab how Chuck was able to still stay bright and chipper considering what he'd seen and the fact that Jimmy had shared the story of how his legs had been blown off. Tab pondered for just a moment how it would feel if that happened to him or Chuck. It was a gristly thought.

"Hey, Earth to Talbert. You listenin' pal?" Tab shook himself from his quandary to see Chuck out of bed changing into his fatigues. He was now waving his hand so close to Tab's face that had he could have wacked him in the nose.

"Yeah? What is it? And why are you out of bed? You're gonna make yourself worse!"

Chuck just chuckled to himself and looked at Jimmy. "I told ya he didn't hear a damn thing that was just said." He looked at Tab. "Nurse just said I could get outta here. Go back with you."

"Why?! Your shoulder's not even close to being healed!"

"I told her you were here to pick me up and that the company was really shorthanded. She didn't ask, I didn't tell."

Tab was shocked. How could a nurse be so neglectful of her job? And how the hell was Chuck going to manage with an injured shoulder? He couldn't lift the bazooka. Shit, he probably couldn't even throw a grenade without opening up his wound again. "You're staying here."

"Who's gonna keep me?"

"I will. You're gonna be in traction so long when you get out we'll have whooped the Krauts and the Japs."

"Oh no I won't be. See ya around Jimmy. I'll look for ya in the funnies." And with that Chuck was out the door and headed for the jeep.

Tab hurried to catch up. Chuck was adamant about getting back to Easy. Tab reached the jeep just as Chuck was getting in the passenger seat. Suddenly, Chuck slumped over, putting his head in his hands and running them back through his hair. He leaned back against the seat and stared at the sky.

"What's wrong? You hurting or something?" Tab tried to keep the concern out of his voice, but knew it was still there.

"Na, I'm fine. I just didn't want Jimmy to get depressed. They moved him in there with us after he tried to kill himself. I was tryin' to keep him cheered up. The doc said if he tried again, he might just do it. I'm worried."

"You know how to write. Just send him a letter every now and again and check up on him. Besides, you're good at cheering people up. I haven't seen Luz smile since you left."

Chuck's reply was cut off by a loud bark. They both turned to see a huge German Shepard standing there, head cocked to the side, staring at them. It barked again and sat down.

"What the hell?" Chuck started. Tab waved his hand at him to shut up and knelt down.

"You can come here. We won't hurt ya."

"Tab that dog is not gonna come over here. It doesn't understand you."

"Why wouldn't it understand me?"

"It's a German Shepard, and it's probably been in Holland its whole life. It knows German and Dutch. That's it."

As if to prove Chuck wrong, the dog got up and trotted over to Tab. It sat down again and nuzzled Tab's open hand like it was trying to say "pet me."

"What was that about it not understanding me?" Chuck rolled his eyes at his best friend. "It doesn't have a collar on either." Tab looked up at Chuck with a face full of pity…and question.

"Oh no. No, no, no. You're not gonna do this to me. We cannot bring a dog with us back to camp. Do you realize what kind of trouble we could get into?"

"It could get caught in a bombing raid, or shot and eaten though!" Chuck thought Tab sounded like his four year old cousin back home.

"And you wanna take it somewhere where there is an almost assured chance that it's gonna get killed?" The dog simply turned its head towards Chuck with a look rivaling that of Tab's stubborn determination. "Now don't you start in on me too." Chuck sighed in defeat. "Fine. But it rides in the back, and if anyone asks, he's all yours farm boy." Tab grinned like a kid at Christmas and hopped into the jeep.

"That's a lot of territory to cover. Come on." Tab gently tugged on the leash around the dog's neck. They walked over to where Luz was sitting near Captain Winters and sat down. "New guys giving the replacements the what for and why is."

The dog trotted over to Luz and jumped up, putting his paws on his shoulders and nosing the food in Luz's hand. Luz broke off a bit and handed it to the dog, playing a miniature game of tug-of-war with him. "This is a helluva dog Tab."

"Thanks. Here ya go." Tab tossed a stick across the room and the dog took off after it.

"What'd you name it?" Winters asked, watching the dog toss the stick into the air and run for it when it landed.

"Trigger."

"Trigger huh? That's a good name. I like that." Luz responded, eating off of the food Tab knew Trigger had just bitten off of.


End file.
